Robbie Băsho* – The Falconer's Arm I

Takoma used the orange/purple label from 1969-71. There is one pressing from Falconers Arm II from 1970 so it would have made sense (commercially) for Takoma to repress them both after giving sonet the right to release them in the UK 1969. Also Basho stated more then one time that they belong together. Although Basho and Fahey didn't get along that well, Fahey respected artistic integrity and vision. Personal conclusion: release date from 1970.

Can someone who has a legit copy of this LP, please add the run-out / etching information they can see?

I think that the UK Sonet ‘stereo’ pressing may be in ‘rechannelled stereo’

My favorite of Basho's extensive catalogue. The most consistently interesting, and the most consistent blend of power and prowess as well. The majority of the record hangs quite heavy like the smoke of a fine Afghan hashish, but the closing tune "Babs" lightens things up with a perfect 4-minutes of respite. The opener is probably the greatest raga he'd ever performed, but I know there's room for some debate on that. This is ground zero for the entry of psych into the field of American Primitivism. It finally goes from flirtation to full-on marriage. And somehow, without a single electronic sound. This is head music, straight from the heart. One can easily get lost in the tangles of The Falconer's Arm Suite, but Basho always showed us there would be a light at the end of the tunnel.

Oh boy! If I've ever seen a half-assed bootleg, this has to be the one. This shady reissue with no licensing information whatsoever, is a low quality replica of original black label Takoma pressing. Print quality of the album cover is awful. Front cover photo is a pixelated blurry mush. Color palette is unnatural and completely off (eg. Basho's skin is bright red).

Sound quality is just as bad. Overall sound is muddy and record is very noisy. It sounds like the source material used was a bad quality needle drop of a worn out vinyl copy. There's a lot of surface noise and hiss. Some of this noise probably originates from source material used, while rest of it is probably due to bad pressing. Record is also badly off-centered, so constant audible wow makes matters even worse. I've compared this reissue with original UK Sonet pressing and Takoma's "Bashovia" compilation (contais 3 of this album's 4 tracks). This reissue is by a mile the worst sounding one. I'd strongly suggest avoiding this reissue.